When she finally remembered the cup next to her, she took a hesitant sip, grimacing at the bitter taste, before her expression froze. She blinked several times in quick succession before taking another gulp.
Relief washed over her face as the healing properties of his blood took effect, making him realise the constant pain she must have been in. He’d obviously never seen how bloodmagic worked before, and he watched with an apprehensive fascination as she continued to shift experimentally where she sat, testing her aching joints. So, when her eyes snapped to his, she caught him looking straight at her.
“That’s not chamomile,” she said, accusatorially.
“There’s chamomile in it,” Keeran shrugged more nonchalantly than he felt before popping a generous spoonful into his mouth.
Aelia’s eyes narrowed to slits, the green in them glowing in the firelight. “What else?”
Keeran didn’t reply, his stare hard and unyielding as he chewed with deliberate slowness.
“Is it the same thing that’s in the poultice?” Aelia pushed, undeterred by his silence.
Keeran took his time swallowing, enjoying the flush of impatience creeping up her neck.
“It’s chamomile, Aelia.” He let a hint of darkness steal into his eyes, noting how she didn’t flinch this time. If anything, the flush seemed to deepen. Curious. “Just drink it.”
Aelia stared at the tea for a few long seconds, the scepticism on her face fading to grim acceptance, then she necked the rest of it.
She shuddered and closed her eyes, dropping the cup. Keeran’s stomach felt like it plummeted ten inches, and it took every ounce of self-control not to call out to her.
A heartbeat later, her eyes flickered open, and Keeran recoiled. The ring of magic in her eyes glowed silver, bright and piercing in the darkness, but he blinked and it was gone. He forced his heart rate to slow, refusing to let her see how much of a nervous wreck he was as they both partook in a crime the Dragons used to kill over. He’d never heard of their magic showing as anything but black, but who knew how their bloodaffected artemians; perhaps the silver light was normal as his magic worked through her.
Aelia lifted her top and twisted towards the fire, exposing her unblemished ribs. There wasn’t a bruise in sight—just toned, golden skin—sending Keeran’s stomach lurching for completely different reasons.
“What the fuck?” Aelia whispered, tearing her top up to gape at the rest of her waist, every bruise, cut and scrape having disappeared to leave the fine silver lines of scars. It wasn’t long before her attention returned to him. “How?”
“I can’t answer that.” His voice brooked no argument.
“Why give it to me then?” She was deathly quiet, a trace of fear mingling with the shock on her face.
“Because I’m going to show you how to defend yourself,” he stated.
Shock won out over fear, her mouth hanging open for a second before she collected her thoughts.
“You’d do that?”
Keeran set his plate down and brushed his hands together. “It’s as much for my sake as for yours. You’ve been a pain in the butt since we left Callodosis, kicking your arse is going to be seriously cathartic.”
He ignored her scowl and jumped to his feet, crossing to offer his hand down to her. Aelia took it tentatively, and he hauled her to her feet, looking for any signs of discomfort and seeing none. Good, that meant he didn’t have to go easy on her. They didn’t have much time, and there was so much to show her.
“All I have is this dagger.” Aelia pivoted her hip to show the weapon she always carried with her.
“You need to learn the basics of unarmed combat before you start throwing weapons into the equation.” He almost smiled at the unmistakable look of disappointment that flashed across her face. He continued, regardless. “To fight is to walk the tightropebetween offence and defence. Misjudge that balance and expect to fall.”
Aelia twisted to look at the floor around them, taking in the rocks and tree roots that jutted from between their numerous bags, saddles and blankets. “Shouldn’t we find somewhere a bit clearer?”
“Attackers aren’t going to wait to find level ground. You need to concentrate on where your feet are at all times, not just because of obstacles, but also in relation to me.”
Keeran shoved her shoulder just hard enough to send her off balance. She looked up at him, her green eyes wide with surprise, but said nothing.
“Stand like this.” He demonstrated, planting his feet in a wide stance, and she copied. He shoved her shoulder again, and this time she stayed put. “Good footwork can make up for a lot.”
He showed her a few blocks and talked her through the concept of putting your bodyweight into your punch. Everything he showed her she picked up well enough, concentration creasing a fine line between her brows as she absorbed his every word.
It had been an awfully long time since he’d learnt the basics, and it had been a much more vicious lesson to learn than the one he was giving her, but Aelia didn’t seem to mind his somewhat garbled explanations.
After a while, they sparred, albeit in the loosest possible sense of the word.
